


a little confession is a dangerous thing

by gottagofast



Series: bellarke au [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, F/M, High School, confessing yr love to someone is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:24:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7111423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gottagofast/pseuds/gottagofast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy had never been ugly. Wiry, covered in freckles and unfortunately prone to fistfights, yes. </p><p>But ugly? No.</p><p>“Bellamy,” she said his name again and enthusiastically gripped one solid bicep between her hands, managing just barely to touch her finger tips together. “Where did you get this?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little confession is a dangerous thing

**Author's Note:**

> _from the tumblr prompt 'we haven't seen each other in a while and now you're ripped and i dont know what to do'_

“Oh my god, Bellamy.” is the first thing that slips out when she sees him.

Bellamy had never been ugly. Wiry, covered in freckles and uncannily prone to fistfights, yes. But ugly? No.

But now he was…

“Hey, Clarke.” He smiled and wrapped her in a hug that lifted her clear of the ground.

Built.

“Bellamy,” she said his name again and enthusiastically gripped one solid bicep between her hands, managing just barely to touch her finger tips together. “Where did you get this?”

He shrugged, but his half smile was pleased. His tell, notoriously easy to spot, outed him before his blush could creep in, when he reached back to rub his neck. “Believe it or not, exercise is a good way to relieve stress,” he admitted, sharing a small, private smile with Clarke, who was only too familiar with the disasters his kind of stress could induce.

A lot of fights with assholes twice his size. Well… assholes who used to be twice his size. Those same guys would get down on their knees at the sight of this new Bellamy. In fact, Clarke would bet any number of girls would have no qualms about doing the same thing.

 _Including you?_ , asked a snide voice in her head.

At the thought she blushed and looked down.

“What,” he goaded, “overcome by lust at the sight of my amazing body?”

That forced a laugh out of her. She pushed him away still flexing.

“You wish” But he only waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

She’d only been gone a few months; a school exchange in France for a term and then another month spent visiting extended family had kept her busy for the most part. But apparently Bellamy hadn’t had a shortage of things to do at home either. After that first day back they’d spent the rest of the week excitedly sharing stories, staying up inappropriately late on the landline talking about Bellamy’s new job at the grocery store (“Mostly old ladies.” he’d confided and protested loudly when Clarke had suggested that the crowd must adore him), her mom’s new boyfriend (“Clean cut, but alright”) and Octavia starting middle school in the fall.

They’d taken O out a few days later, down to the beach and spent the day swimming, racing each other on the playground and helping O build her sandcastle. Clarke had made a point of keeping her eyes carefully averted.

Ark wasn’t a big place by any means. It had grown recently with the construction of a new university but you’d still be hard pressed to find any place that stayed open past 7 on a Friday. Which was why Clarke and Bellamy found themselves wandering around downtown with nothing to do, heading idly for the boardwalk, where at least there was the sight of the sun setting, when Bellamy planted himself firmly in front of her and, with a sigh, said “Okay, what is it?”

Clarke coloured but feigned innocence. “What’s what?”

He rolled his eyes and stepped to the side so they could keep walking. “Don’t play dumb, tell me what’s bothering you. Did something happen in France? Are you and your mom okay?”

She and her mom had been tense ever since her father’s death, but they had handled it with grace typical of their family, meaning they had avoided discussing it to keep the vacation from going sour. They’d talked about nothing less superficial than the quality of the food and the beauty of the countryside, but that wasn’t what had been bothering her.

She squirmed under his gaze until finally, she raised her eyes to meet his. “I can’t tell you.”

He laughed. “What do you mean you can’t tell me?”

It sounded ridiculous to her own ears as she said it. It was true that they told each other basically everything. She’d told him about Finn and he’d told her about Raven, she’d told him about her dad and he’d told her about his mom. In retrospect it sounded like a business agreement, signed sealed and delivered - you scratch my back, I scratch yours. Too Clarke it had felt a lot like she imagined the descending levels of Dante’s Inferno might, each new admission binding them more firmly to each other, each secret she carried weighing less as she shared.

In reality, she and Bellamy carried things together. They always had.She was silent as they walked while she waited for it to appear in the air between them. The moment felt inevitable, silvery and surreal.

“I’m falling in love with you, I think,” she managed, her voice strong despite her sweaty hands. “And I was afraid it was because suddenly you’re so - “ She struggled for the right word. Not beautiful, he’d always been beautiful, his quick mouth, his heaven-full-of-stars skin, taught back and steady hands. His new body had only been a flashlight shone in Clarke’s eyes to check if she was still conscious, fingers on her neck checking for a pulse point.

She only managed a vague angry gesture towards him. “ - you’re so _this_. But I’ve been thinking about it and,” she took a deep, steadying breath, “it’s been coming on for a while now, actually.”

He was still walking steadily beside her, his face unreadable when she risked a glance.

They didn’t say anything as city park approached and the reaching trees loomed above them.

As they were crossing the road, Clarke unsure of what to do with her hands, he ducked his head muttered a barely audible secret in return.

“I want to kiss you so badly right now.”

She’d heard he was a good kisser, from Raven, from a litany of other girls she’d had an unexplainable distaste for before now. Under the spread arms of an ancient beech tree, he’d backed her into the trunk, taken her face between his hands and kissed her until her lips were bruised and her breathing stuttered and needy. It was an unexpected miracle, like rain in the desert, that she’d finally gotten to find out for herself.

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me if i made any mistakes


End file.
